Dallas Stars Blog

Rolling newsletter _ Is Rick Wilson missed?

Hey guys, this is normally newsletter day, but we have suspended that publication for the off-season. As such, I will handle some of your questions here on the blog in what we will call the rolling newsletter.

If you have any questions, e-mail me at mheika@dallasnews.com. And, as always, feel free to call me an idiot and offer a better answer than I have.

Q: How much of a factor was Rick Wilson’s leaving when you look back at the poor defensive play this year? Many of the young defensemen on the team came in under Wilson and they seemed poised for success. It seems to me that they took a giant step backwards this year.

I asked Craig Ludwig about this and he seemed to think it made a huge difference. He also told me Crawford is the one who calls the defensive pairings during the game. Perhaps Charlie Huddy should have more freedom during games given the fact he was a big influence on Edmonton’s young defensemen in years past.

Keith in Grapevine

HEIKA: I understand where Craig is coming from on Rick Wilson. He is an excellent coach, and both Rick and Craig believe that the best way to play hockey is to reduce the number of mistakes and play a simple, smart game in your own end.

But the problem is that the new guys want to take a few more chances.

Now, we can argue all day which side is right, but the bottom line is that Joe Nieuwendyk is in charge and he has a vision for what the Stars should be. That vision includes defensemen who carry the puck, who make crisp passes out of their own zone and who join the play to create odd-man rushes. This is not a concept foreign to the NHL, as teams like Detroit, San Jose, Pittsburgh, Chicago, even Anaheim buy into.

Rick Wilson was opposed to this style of hockey when he was here, and he carried a very strong voice in the room. Dave Tippett actually wanted to study this style of hockey (or at least dabble in it here and there) and Wilson typically flinched when there was the first sign of trouble. The only player that Wilson really trusted to pull this off was Sergei Zubov, and even Zubov had the reins pulled in from time to time, because Wilson cringed when mistakes were made.

Which leads us to the second part of the first part of your question: Did the young defensemen take a giant step backwards?

Personally, I think Trevor Daley took a step forward. I think he was given more responsibility, grasped that responsibility and gained confidence as a player who can skate the puck and still recover in time to get back. I believe Nicklas Grossman moved forward as a defender who probably isn’t a perfect fit in this system (but is needed for balance in the defensive end), and grew as a player.

I also think Mark Fistric gained confidence, defended well and even learned to move the puck with confidence from his own end. I think he took a huge step forward, and I think he has the skill to be a very good player in this system.

That leaves Matt Niskanen. He did indeed have a year in which he slid back, and I personally believe that all goes to his confidence level. He is being asked to do a lot of things, and when he makes a mistake, I think it really gets into his head. The Stars, I believe, have two choices with him. 1. Live with the mistakes and hope he has a breakout season the way Loui Eriksson did two years ago. 2. Trade him and allow someone else to develop him, the way San Jose has done with players like Matt Carle and Christian Ehrhoff.

A lot of that decision will depend on what Dallas does in regards to acquiring another defenseman this summer. I think Stephane Robidas can play in any system and will adjust well. I think he needs some help at the top of the defense so that he isn’t pushed so hard to do everything. He regressed as the year went on, but I think that was fatigue more than anything. I know people will debate his ability as a No. 1 defenseman, but Team Canada had him in their top 10 for the Olympics (Marc Crawford said Robidas was the No. 8 defenseman and was instructed to be on-call in case there was an injury during the Olympics), and I think that speaks very highly to where Robidas is rated in the NHL.

As for Marc Crawford and Charlie Huddy, I’m with you in that I would personally allow Huddy to call the pairs and get more involved in giving the defense its identity. That was one thing Wilson did well. He took great responsibility for the job done by the defense and he forced that responsibility on the players. The defense under Wilson typically saw itself as a part of the whole, but also as a gang unto itself. There was a real pride in doing the job well and almost a competition between the forwards and defense as to who was doing the job better.

As silly as it sounds to use mind games on grown men, little things like that make a difference in developing the personality of a group and a team.

Now, the problem is that’s not how Marc Crawford coaches. He wants full control of everything, and that includes changing the D-pairs to match his forward lines. I believe in the steps of authority, and I think a good organization will follow them. If you are going to hire Marc Crawford, then you have to let him coach the way he feels comfortable. Just as an owner shouldn’t dictate to a GM what players to acquire, a GM shouldn’t dictate to a coach how to run his bench.

So, if you believe in Joe Nieuwendyk, then you have to let him run this out and see where it goes. Fans are certainly allowed to question the intelligence of these decisions, but you have to have the patience to allow the group to chase the vision that they have for the team. I think the worst mistake a GM can make is being wishy-washy. If you look at the GMs who have had success, they have a vision and they follow it. Lou Lamoriello does that in New Jersey, Ken Holland does it in Detroit. Brian Burke has done it in Anaheim and is trying to do it in Toronto. You have to believe in your vision. To me, that’s the first step.

We’ll see where it all goes, but I think you have to allow more than one season to call it a failure.